EAST NANTMEAL — In addition to making a federal tax incentive for land conservation donations permanent, the bill U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-6 of East Pikeland, has proposed to allow additional changes to make the option available to more people.

The bill, H.R. 2807, “makes donations of easements more accessible to landowners or modest means,” according to information put together by the Natural Lands Trust.

• It raises the maximum deduction a donor can take for donating a conservation easement from 30 percent of their adjusted gross income in any year up to 50 percent of their AGI.

• It allows qualified farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100 percent of their adjusted gross income.

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• It also increases the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from 6 to 16 years.

At their most basic, conservation easements limit the number, location and type of buildings as well as limit or prohibit sub-division.

They often include provisions for limited public access in the form of walking or equestrian trails.

Those easements associated with agricultural uses require management standards which diminish the farm’s impact on the environment and often improve profitability.

But without the enhancements Gerlach has proposed, the owner of agricultural land earning $50,000 a year who donated an easement worth $1 million could take a tax deduction of no more than $90,000.

Under the changes Gerlach has proposed, that same landowner could take $800,000 in tax deductions. Nobody can ever deduct more than the appraised value of their gift; this incentive simply allows a modest-income landowner to take the same deduction that would be available if his or her income were larger.

“Whether you are a farmer looking to preserve land that’s been in your family for generations or a local land trust forging community partnerships to protect natural resources, this legislation gives you greater freedom to make critical choices about future land use,” Gerlach said.

“This bill makes conservation a real and affordable option for family farmers, ranchers and forest land owners to protect lands that are vitally important to their communities,” said Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth.

According to Sherri Evans-Stanton, director of the Brandywine Conservancy’s Environmental Management Center, from 2006 to 2012 her organization, Natural Lands Trust and Montgomery County Lands Trust, received 106 donations of land valued at $94 million.

However, in 2012, the year the incentive was not in effect, donations dropped to just two.

“In our experience, landowners want to do the right thing by preserving their land,” said D. Andrew Pitz, executive director of the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust.

“This is evidenced by the fact that well over 80 percent of our conservation easements have been donations,” he said. “However, they are giving up a lot of value and may need a little help to make their donation work financially. This legislation will ensure that many more landowners are able to donate conservation easements.”